I installed the Schatten last night using the tape method. The guitar I put it in (Emerald X30) has an offset sound hole so I was able to mess around with the placement without having to remove the strings each time which is a huge bonus. It sounded best to me placed where they recommend only I moved it a few mm closer to the bass strings. Once installed I was easily able to reach in and just using gentle force to push up on the pickup I was getting a lot more output. Since I liked what I was hearing I grabbed my Loctite 495 and with the aid of a foam brush, applied some to the 3 legs of the pickup and installed. For those of you who had concerns with using superglue, and because I'm a brave soul, I removed the pickup once again (as a test) and very little mess was left behind. All was needed was some gentle sanding of the soundboard and the 3 legs on the pickup and I had it back in within a few minutes. That's why I love Loctite 495 it's so easy to use.

Anyway, back to the pickup. I hooked up the guitar to my DAW and found a +3db boost at 100Hz and a cut of -3db at 2500Hz and I was rocking away. The pickup is very "mic like" and good for what it is. A cheaper, passive pickup with a very easy install. I also couldn't believe the clarity from it so I grabbed my Anthem SL equipped Gibson and did some comparing. This time I connected them both to my Fishman loudbox artist amp. Output levels were very close with the Anthem SL just ever so slightly louder that most people probably wouldn't notice but the Schatten completely obliterated the Anthem SL for clarity.

Next I tried the Schatten with Tonedexter and found that they are a great match. Tonedexter added some more low end and reduced the harsh mids that you would otherwise have to EQ out. I'll probably revisit this post to add some more stuff as I get more time to play around but so far I'm quite happy with the results.

If your Anthem SL rig is like mine, it sets a poor standard for clarity without some substantial EQ corrections. My rig is overly strong around the crossover frequency of 250Hz. Before I learned to EQ down those low mids, folks would tell me that my amplified steel-string OM sounded like a nylon-stringer.